Arch-Cardinal Ignato
Titles: Emperor Blessed, Luminous Vex Calyx Seat of Power: Scintilla (Hive Tarsus) Arch-Diocese: Golgenna Reach For well over a century, Ignato has directed the interests of the Ministorum within the Calixis Sector. He rose from the ranks of the Tarsine Synod and took over from a weak and largely ineffective predecessor; many within the church credit the strength and power of the Scintillian Ministorum to his steady hand and careful judgements. For all of his great power and influence, however, Ignato is seldom seen outside the walls of the Cathedral of Illumination on Scintilla. Every decade or so he may travel to the Lucid Court should a pressing matter arise where he feels he must meet with Sector Lord Hax personally, but for much of the daily running of the Calixian Ministorum, Ignato remains out of sight. For this reason there are few, even among the faithful, who know exactly what the Arch-Cardinal looks like, having only a vague impression of an imposing figure in Arch-Cardinal’s regalia based on generic-looking portraits, statues or holo-pics. This of course is all part of Ignato’s power and mystery, allowing him to use doubles, agents and lesser Ministorum servants to carry out his will quietly and without drawing undue attention. It is also a prudent security measure as Ignato has many enemies both within the Ministorum and without, for as the highest ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy in the Calixis Sector he is a natural target for any foes of the Imperial Creed (and of these there are more than a few). Ignato has made his presence very strongly felt in his time in the office of the Arch-Cardinal and has done much to both expand the influence and domain of the church as well as to consolidate its holdings. First and foremost has been his campaign to raise and support vast numbers of independent preachers, confessors and missionaries so that the church might have a stake on every world within the sector, and even some worlds only nominally under Imperial control. This pushing back of the Ministorum’s boundaries, while costly in lives, has had some successes and added greatly to the church’s coffers through new tithes, as well as burnishing Ignato’s reputation with the greater Ecclesiarchy and the distant Segmentum Synods. In his role as the Arch-Cardinal Ignato has also done much to cement the bonds between Sector Synod members and forge closer ties between the Diocese Cardinals, the worlds they control, and the myriad of sects and cults on each of those worlds. Though far from unified, for the first time in millennia the Sector Synod has the ability to create Ministorum policy across the entire sector (if of course they could ever agree on what that policy might be), which in itself is a massive achievement. Of course Ignato is also in a constant battle with the problems facing the church, and as Arch-Cardinal the responsibility of dealing with such issues falls on his shoulders. Perhaps the most dire of these is the existence of the Temple Tendency and its extensive infiltration of the Ministorum. Ignato knows full well that the Temple Tendency exists and is a significant threat within the church, subverting its power to complete its own goals. Like most staunch followers of the Imperial Creed Ignato finds the Temple Tendency repulsive to his sense of faith, and works when and where he can to burn it out. Unfortunately after years of fighting its spread he has come to the realization (a realization he would never share) that to destroy the Temple Tendency might only be possible by destroying much of the Calixian Ministorum and crippling the church on dozens of worlds. Worse yet, is that it has come to Ignato’s attention that one of the Synod Cardinals may be a member of the Temple Tendency. However even the Arch-Cardinal must be careful when pointing an accusing finger at one of his own, and should he make such an accusation without proof it could shatter the Sector Synod and undo all his hard earned work thus far. Though he knows the cult has infiltrated the Ministorum within the Calixis Sector, he knows not truly how high it reaches. Deacon Priam, Arch Deacon Procurator of the Golgenna Reach and manager of its physical holdings, has the ear of Ignato. None but Priam's innermost circle know that he is actually a hidden Pontifex of the Temple of the Saviour Emperor and its leader in the Calixis Sector. His machinations have ensured that the Temple Tendency reaches far and is one of the most dangerous public heretics in all of Calixis. In addition, the Imperial Creed he promulgates is threatened by the Maccabeus Schism and his lack of influence over the world of Maccabeus Quintus. For decades the residences of this shrine world have seen themselves as set apart from the rest of the Calixian Ministorum and somehow blessed by the miracle of Saint Drusus’ resurrection. While Ignato tolerates this variance of the Imperial Creed he also watches it closely lest it stray too far from Ecclesiarchy orthodoxy. The situation is exacerbated by the machinations of Kregory Hestor, Cardinal of the Drusian Diocese in which Maccabeus lies. In his ongoing efforts to wrest power from Ignato, Kregory is using the schism to try and drive a wedge between the faithful of his diocese and the rest of the sector. Ignato must play a dangerous game as he makes moves to thwart Kregory’s separatist efforts while maintaining the stability of the Sector Synod. Ignato has no illusions that if he were to declare the Maccabian Cult heretical it could well escalate into a sector wide war of faith, not to mention irreparably damaging the reputation of Saint Drusus. Perhaps the greatest burden Ignato bears is not the daily effort of guiding and unifying a sector-wide organization but rather the burden of knowledge. Arch-Cardinal Ignato is the holder of the Kapocian Key, an ancient device of dark age technology which he wears at all times around his neck. The key opens the great void seals in the vaults below the Cathedral of Illumination and allows access to the Diabolus Formentum, or Devil’s Dungeon where the most heretical and dangerous texts, devices and relics captured by the church are stored for safe keeping. From his rare visits to the vaults, Ignato has become privy to terrible and powerful secrets about the Calixis Sector. The worst of these is perhaps the Atrum Asectica, which Ignato has only dared lay eyes upon a handful of times. Rumoured to be the precursor work to the Propheticum Hereticus Tenebrae, this tome deals with such secrets as the truth behind the resurrection of Saint Drusus and the appearance of the Tyrant Star. It also contains many of the forbidden pieces of lore. More than anything else, this knowledge, as well as access to this tome, probably make Ignato one of the most powerful men within the sector, even greater than Sector Lord Hax should he ever choose to use this knowledge for his own ends, or become corrupted by it.